25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
First Reading
Isaiah 55:6–9
Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found: call upon him, while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God: for he is bountiful to forgive.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts: nor your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 144(145):2–3,8–9,17–18
The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him.
Every day I will bless thee: and I will praise thy name for ever; yea, for ever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: and of his greatness there is no end.
The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him.
The Lord is gracious and merciful: patient and plenteous in mercy.
The Lord is sweet to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him.
The Lord is just in all his ways: and holy in all his works.
The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him: to all that call upon him in truth.
The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him.
Second Reading
Philippians 1:20–24,27
According to my expectation and hope; that in nothing I shall be confounded, but with all confidence, as always, so now also shall Christ be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
For to me, to live is Christ; and to die is gain.
And if to live in the flesh, this is to me the fruit of labour, and what I shall choose I know not.
But I am straitened between two: having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ, a thing by far the better.
But to abide still in the flesh, is needful for you.
Only let your conversation be worthy of the gospel of Christ: that, whether I come and see you, or, being absent, may hear of you, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind labouring together for the faith of the gospel.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our hearts, O Lord,
to listen to the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Gospel
Matthew 20:1–16
The kingdom of heaven is like to an householder, who went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
And having agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market place idle.
And he said to them: Go you also into my vineyard, and I will give you what shall be just.
And they went their way. And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did in like manner.
But about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he saith to them: Why stand you here all the day idle?
They say to him: Because no man hath hired us. He saith to them: Go you also into my vineyard.
And when evening was come, the lord of the vineyard saith to his steward: Call the labourers and pay them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first.
When therefore they were come, that came about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
But when the first also came, they thought that they should receive more: and they also received every man a penny.
And receiving it they murmured against the master of the house, saying: These last have worked but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, that have borne the burden of the day and the heats.
But he answering said to one of them: Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst thou not agree with me for a penny?
Take what is thine, and go thy way: I will also give to this last even as to thee.
Or, is it not lawful for me to do what I will? is thy eye evil, because I am good?
So shall the last be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.
Reflection
“My thoughts are not your thoughts.” We sometimes hear these words as though God’s purposes were simply beyond questioning. Yet Isaiah reveals something more specific and more consoling: God’s ways are higher because his mercy surpasses our calculations. The sinner who returns is not met with reluctance but with a God who is “bountiful to forgive”. His greatness is shown not by keeping people at a distance, but by drawing near to all who call upon him in truth.
Jesus gives this divine generosity a human setting. The landowner pays the agreed wage to those who worked from daybreak, so no injustice has been done. The tension begins when he gives the same amount to those hired at the eleventh hour. Their good fortune exposes the resentment of the first workers. They can accept justice for themselves, but struggle to welcome generosity shown to others.
The late workers explain that they have been standing idle because no one hired them. The landowner sees people whom others have overlooked and gives them a place in his vineyard. God’s grace is like this: it is not a wage earned by superior performance but the free and undeserved gift of his life. The Catechism teaches that grace is God’s freely given help, enabling us to become his children and share in his divine life (CCC 1996–2001).
This does not make faithful labour meaningless. Paul’s words show what life in the vineyard truly becomes: “For to me, to live is Christ.” He longs to be with Christ, yet recognises that remaining alive is necessary for the good of others. Grace has not made him passive or self-absorbed. It has freed him to spend himself in service and to live in a manner worthy of the Gospel.
The psalm holds justice and mercy together. The Lord is just in all his ways, merciful in all his works and near to those who call upon him. Christian conversion begins when we stop measuring God’s goodness by what we think others deserve. The Church therefore proclaims both the seriousness of sin and the abundance of the mercy offered to every repentant heart (CCC 1846–1848).
Perhaps the sharpest question in the Gospel is the landowner’s: “Is thy eye evil, because I am good?” Envy narrows our sight until another person’s blessing feels like our loss. Christ invites us into a freedom spacious enough to rejoice when the forgotten are welcomed, the sinner returns, and the latecomer receives more kindness than anyone expected.
One line to carry today:
Grace is not diminished when God gives generously to someone else.
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